I still don’t think I’ve come to the realization that I’m in Africa. I walk outside and it’s obvious, but at least once a day I look around and say, “Wow.. I’m in Africa.”
Here’s a couple things the Lord has been teaching me.
- Fear. We take motos to get around and at first I was so fearful. Being in a new city and trusting a random man to get me somewhere is a little terrifying. But one night we were on the motos and the Lord spoke to me. He said, “look around”. I, for the first time, took my eyes off my teammate in front of me and got to the see the beauty of Kigali lit up at night. That was my city… and it gave me peace. It was like the Lord was saying, “keep your eyes on what I’m doing. It’s not always about the destination.. it’s the journey”.
- Joy. For the first month of being here we spent the mornings doing construction. I would have such a hard time getting out of bed. The Lord spoke to me and said, “Do you trust me?” We have to wake up everyday and decide He is God, His plan is perfect, so I trust Him and I give myself to Him and allow Him to work through me. When you do everything with the intent that is working toward the good of the kingdom, there’s so much joy.
- Love. So, I stick out a lot because I’m white in Africa. Here, anyone who is white, is automatically assumed to have money. Now, I am so blessed but I am living on a tight budget. I’m doing life with these people. Yet, we are constantly ripped off by our moto drivers. People come to us begging us for money. The kids want our technology. I’m learning how to love and show love to people who seem to take advantage of or assume things about me.
- Comfort. Oh man.. I abandon more and more comfort each new month on the race. At the beginning of this month I would put my head down and walk as fast as I could with the hopes I wouldn’t get whistled at. Now, I want to talk to everyone I see. My teammates are awesome at having conversations with everyone. Why wouldn’t we talk to the drunks?? Jesus did. Why wouldn’t we hold the dirty baby? Jesus did.
- Yes. I’m learning to say yes, even when it seems weird, even when it seems hard, even when I’m tired, even when I’m scared. There’s so much growth and reward in saying yes to Jesus and people. So many relationships have been built on saying yes. Oh, did I mention I sang in church yesterday and today?? I’ve never sung before in my life and now I’m helping lead worship. But through leading I got to build a relationship with a godly women from Uganda and get some free singing lessons. We can’t be afraid of “yes!”
When I look around at what the Lord is doing, I can’t thank Him enough for bringing me here, for getting me fully funded, for allowing me to be on this crazy journey, for giving me an incredible team that challenges me in new ways everyday, and for being such a loving and gracious God.
